This article analyzes the cinematic construction of the of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs in Iranian films produced over the past four decades, through the lens of cultural criminology. To this end, drawing on the anarchist methodology of cultural criminology, David Altheide’s ethnographic content analysis is employed as the main analytical tool. Given the qualitative nature of the study, the sample was selected through non-probability purposive sampling.

The population under investigation consisted of films produced within Iran’s official post-revolutionary cinema that addressed the crime of intentional homicide punishable by Qisas -e nafs, either directly or indirectly. Specifically, the selected films either explicitly referred to the legal institution of Qisas -e nafs within their narratives or portrayed the underlying act as an intentional homicide subject to Qisas -e nafs within the process of cinematic representation. For analyzing the collected data, the ethnographic content analysis was conducted and Denzin’s four-stage general model was employed to identify textual patterns and intertextual dynamics. This approach makes it possible to examine how meanings associated with Qisas -e nafs are produced, reproduced, and circulated within cinematic narratives.

Representations of Qisas -e nafs in post-revolutionary Iranian cinema have been shaped through the articulation and gradual reconfiguration of multiple cultural logics operating simultaneously. These representations not only reinforce or challenge the conditions under which Qisas -e nafs is perceived as legitimate, but also invite audiences to reinterpret lived experiences, reassess moral values, and critically reflect upon Qisas -e nafs as a form of punishment. In light of these dynamics, the findings of the present study are organized around two central themes.

According to the findings of this study, Qisas -e nafs -e nafs functions as a floating signifier whose meaning is contingent upon the mode of narration through which it is represented. Consequently, the cinematic representation of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs is organized around four distinct systems of meaning. These identified meaning systems constitute a concrete manifestation of media politics of representation, insofar as the meaning of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs is not inherent or fixed but is socially and culturally constructed within specific narrative contexts. Furthermore, these representational patterns frequently operate through a contested process of meaning-making across cinematic texts, whereby competing interpretations and symbolic tensions shape the production of meaning. It is through these tensions that dominant interpretive frameworks emerge, gain legitimacy, and become embedded within broader cultural understandings of punishment and justice. The findings indicate that the meaning of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs is reproduced across four interpretive spectra depending on narrative logic and representational patterns: legitimation, problematization, substitution, and semantic suspension.

Furthermore, some critical filmmakers by intervening in the meaning-making politics of dominant power structures through critical representations of the complexities surrounding Qisas -e nabs , critical filmmakers created opportunities for rethinking the propositions of the prevailing hegemony. As Presdee suggests, these representations possess a carnivalesque quality insofar as they destabilize the prevailing monologic hegemony grounded in a moral order that legitimizes Qisas -e nafs as a negotiable right. In doing so, they create space for the articulation and representation of ideas, experiences, and perspectives that have been marginalized or silenced within the official narrative of criminal justice. Rather than merely reproducing dominant understandings of punishment, such cinematic representations challenge established meanings and expose alternative interpretations of justice, responsibility, victimhood, and social harm that remain largely excluded from hegemonic discourses of penal order. These representations are critically examined at three levels: structural victimization, collateral effects of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs, and the wrongful convictions. From this perspective, cinematic representations of Qisas -e nafs -e nafs can be understood as part of a broader field of contestation over meaning, legitimacy, and the interpretation of criminal justice in contemporary Iranian society.

Finally, the present study constitutes an initial step toward unpacking the complex meaning-making structures through which Qisas -e nafs is constructed and represented in Iran. Such an approach opens new avenues for future research aimed at exploring how the meaning of Qisas -e nafs emerges through the dynamic interplay between upward and downward processes of social construction. Since crime and its control are produced, circulated, and consumed within the dominant consumer culture, a deeper understanding of their meanings requires sustained scholarly engagement with the mechanisms through which these constructions are generated, reproduced, negotiated, and transformed.